Ms Shath’s thoughts immediately turned to Raed, her family’s lumbering two-year-old German Shepherd who lives in the garage of their home in Gaza City.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “Everyone tagged me in the notice on Facebook because they know I am a dog lover. I thought: this can’t be true.”

But it was. And in the three weeks since Hamas announced the ban dog owners in Gaza have been forced to keep their pets indoors, often in small apartments with no air conditioning amid the rising summer heat.

Hamas has ruled Gaza since seizing power in 2007Credit:
EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

Ayman al-Batniji, a Hamas police spokesman, said the ban had been introduced because women and children were frightened of the animals.

“In recent weeks, the phenomenon of young men walking with their dogs in the streets has widely spread. It is neither of our culture nor of our traditions. Children and women feel scared when they see dogs,” he told The Telegraph. “Our duty is to maintain the safety of citizens.”

Mr al-Batniji said the ban only applied to populated areas like city streets, beaches and markets and said people could take their dogs into the fields to walk them there. For many people without cars, however, a drive into the countryside is not an option.

“We are not against dogs, we use dogs in our work,” the police spokesman insisted. “The ban is simply to protect our women and children.”

An official Hamas notice did not specify a penalty for breaking the ban, saying only that the owner would have to sign a pledge not to walk their pet again. But dog owners said they were afraid their animals would be confiscated, especially German Shepherds and other large dogs that could be used by police.

Dogs are often considered unclean in Muslim societies but a culture of dog-owning has grown in Gaza in the last few yearsCredit:
EPA / Mohamed Saber

Dogs are often thought of as unclean in Muslim societies and some clerics consider them to be haram - meaning forbidden - in Islam. One tradition says that if you touch a dog you must bathe seven times before you are clean again.

Yet a culture of dog owning has blossomed in Gaza in recent years, partly because the high unemployment rate means many Palestinians are sitting at home all day. Electricity shortages limit the use of TVs and smartphones and so a dog can provide a welcome distraction.

“There are studies that show that having a dog reduces the likelihood of depression and other issues,” said Dr Imad Morad, Gaza’s leading dog veterinarian. “Having a dog is good for you.”

Dr Morad said that in the weeks since the ban had come into force, people had called him worried that their dogs seemed lethargic and depressed. Owners were frightened to bring their pets for scheduled vaccinations, he said, and sometimes smuggled them to his clinic in the boots of their cars to keep them out of sight.

“It is not good for the dog, psychologically or physically, to be in the home all the time,” he said.

Dr Imad Morad, a veterinarian, said people were afraid to bring their dogs in for scheduled vaccinations because of the banCredit:
Raf Sanchez / Telegraph

Ms Shath and her family have not taken Raed - meaning "thunder" in Arabic - out of their house for the last three weeks because of the ban. The dog, who was born a month after the 2014 Gaza war, had become less friendly and playful and they worried about his health, they said.

“Since he was imprisoned, he has became edgier. He’s different, he’s more hostile,” said Suzanne Shath, Ms Shath’s mother. “Sometimes he rejects food and he doesn’t want to eat. We have to play with him to help him work his appetite.”

Raed was especially fond of walking on Gaza’s beaches and so the family brought sand and even salt water into their garden to try to recreate the seaside for him. Ms Shath’s brothers take him running laps around the house for exercise.

They have taken him out for one 5am walk in the empty streets but said they were now too nervous to go again as awareness of the ban spread.

Yasmin Shath and her family take their dog Raed on laps around the house because they cannot take him outside.Credit:
Wissam Nassar / The Telegraph

Mrs Shath said she thought the ban was part of a wider effort by Hamas to assert itself over society in Gaza. “They don’t want people to get busy with dogs, they want them to think only about politics, about resistance, to always be on and never to relax,” she said.

The Shath family has a relatively large home by Gaza standards and a small communal garden but many dog owners in small apartments have been forced to keep their animals cooped up in small spaces.

Ayman Shath, a cousin, has a brood of eight dogs led by a large German shepherd named Jimmy. One animal recently gave birth to a litter of puppies and he proudly showed mobile phone pictures of the little creatures.

“I have a language with dogs, but with humans in Gaza I can’t understand what they want,” Mr Shath said. “At least I can speak to my dogs.”